Dark Tourism for Halloweek

With Halloween only a week away, and being one of my favorite holidays – I felt I should blog about something travel-related but also something on the more spooky side – Dark Tourism.  I also recently had acrylic nails applied for my Friday the 13-th inspired Halloween costume and am finding it near-impossible to type, so please forgive any faux-pas in this entry.

I first heard of Dark Tourism a few years ago – around the time I first visited New Orleans, and for those of you who are not familiar with the term – Dark Tourism is travel to certain places related to death or tragedy.  There is a lot of controversy surrounding dark tourism – especially having to do with exploitation and misinformation.  I never really showed much of an interest myself in exploring dark tourist hot spots – with a few small exceptions, such as homes of serial killers, hotel Chelsea, and Dracula’s castle in Romania… oh and suicide forest in Japan… Okay, I lied.  I totally find these places super creepy but interesting.  – But I also have my hard limits with dark tourism and understand that there are some places that just should NOT be exploited, like ground zero or places where mass genocides have taken place. (Oh – and I would never actually visit Suicide Forest because the stories and the idea alone terrifies me which is probably why I find it interesting)

Earlier this year when the popular Netflix series, “Dark Tourist” was released I was infatuated.  The show has received a lot of backlash and although I do understand why and how this type of tourism can come off as extremely insensitive it still interests me to an extent.  So, I have decided to explore several Dark Tourism destinations for the sake of Halloween.  I am writing this while working at one of  my jobs so sadly it is not going to be the most amazing post thus far, but it’s just meant to be more so for entertaining.

EUROPE

But I need to start with where I wish I could be spending Halloween this year: Bucharest, Romania.  DRACULA’S CASTLE.  The Bran Castle, also known as Vlad the third or Vlad the impaler’s castle.  However, it is said the real Dracula castle is not this one but Poienari Citadel in the Arges valley, north-east of Bucharest.

The Paris Catacombs – I have visited here and can vouch myself this place is awesome but creepy.  It’s easy to get separated from your tour group and oxygen levels are noticeably lower in the catacombs – and if you’ve seen any scary movies featuring the catacombs I promise you’ll be spooked.

Dumbarton, Scotland:  Okay I would never actually go here because the premise is super depressing for a canine lover like myself but there is a bridge here that causes dogs to commit suicide.  No joke.  Over 50 dogs have jumped off this bridge and caused their own death it’s super crazy.

Chernobyl & Pripyat, Ukraine Some tour companies exist to send tourists to the exclusion zone and ghost town left after the nuclear accident in 1986. They make sure to scan for radiation during the tour and when tourists leave.

Split, Croatia: FROGGYLAND – perhaps this isn’t your typical dark tourist destination but I found it to be.  It’s a museum made up of 500+ dead frogs who are posed to be acting out different scenes.

Budapest, Hungary:  The house of terror –

London: 

Tower of London: so many tortures and executions, guys!

152 Fleet Street, London – Sweeney Todd’s Barber Shop*

Jack The Ripper tour – I always want to do this and always forget once I am in London! D:

USA

West Coast

Museum of Death in Hollywood, California – How have I never been here… *Facepalm*

Manson Murder Tour in LA – I also would love to participate in this…

Seattle = Kurt Cobain + Ted Bundy… need i say more?  You can not only go to the park and see the home Cobain died in but there are so many Bundy tours which I wish I went on in hindsight…. EMP museum has a really terrifying horror movie exhibit too.

East Coast

Massachusetts: You can stay in a room where Abby Borden was murdered!  The the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a museum and the site of the unsolved murders of Andrew and Abby Borden.

Salem, Massachusetts:  I went here with a couple of buddies a few years ago around the beginning of October and it was awesome.  -Salem Witch Trials of 1692-

New York:

The Chelsea Hotel: Every sex pistol’s fan has got to see where Sid “killed?” Nancy.

Madam Morbid’s Trolley Tour – This is in New York and I am hoping to try it out this upcoming weekend.  It’s a tour of New York accompanied by frightening paranormal stories.

The House of Death also known as 14 West 10th Street is supposedly haunted by 22 ghosts – one is Mark Twain!

Amityville New york!!!!! Where Ronald Defeo murdered his entire family and then five bazillion movies were made from.  However I will never visit here because the story is terrifying to me.

Other

Last Resort Bar in Port Orange Florida: (singing voice) This is the last place Aileen Wurnos had a drink before her arrest.  Also in Florida is the Riddlehouse, a haunted funeral parlor in Palm beach, scary.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin:  Cream City Cannibal Tour – hello, Jeffrey Dahmer!  My sister went to college in Milwaukee and I never had the chance to explore any of the real Dahmer stomping grounds, guess we will have to take a visit!

NOLA: LaLaurie Mansion, home to Madame Delphine LaLaurie who tortured and mutilated her slaves, there are tons of voodoo inspired places, vampire tours and the former home of the Axeman of New Orleans!  There is also a museum of death and one of voodoo. Oh and the cemeteries, duh.

DISNEYWORLD & LAND:  Do you know how many people have died in the happiest place in the world?  Yup.  Just google disneyland or world deaths.

CHICAGO : HH HOLMES:  The Devil in the White City Tour, ran by Weird Chicago lets tourists see where Holmes did his killing.  There are tons of mob-related tours and sites to visit but personally I do not find the mafia that entertaining – never have… personal reasons.

Some honorable mentions:

Berlin Wall – I have visited what remains of where the Berlin Wall was – it was very somber.  While in Berlin a close friend of mine who does urbex and he went and got into the abandoned hospital where Hitler was hospitalized at one point.  I, however, am not agile enough to have tagged along.

Stonehenge in England has a lot of creepy stories too!

Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Japan – also the suicide forest I mentioned before

Basically all of Prague, Czech Republic has dark history – at least that’s my take from the tours I went on while I was there.

There are a lot of Holocaust-related dark tourist spots but I do not feel it is right to exploit any places where such tragedy occurred – also 9/11 memorials and places of mass genocide.  I feel these places should only be explored to pay respects and realize what happened was a tragedy – not for some strange adrenaline fix.  This is my personal opinion though.

 

This post is not meant to be insensitive at all – if you find the matter offensive I apologize it is meant to scary/dark for Halloween.